There are a large number of naturally occurring substances that have found medical and health applications in various fields but that must be processed to be suitable as a commercial product. Historically, maintaining the biological activity of certain potentially useful substances along with providing this to the intended recipient in a safe manner, particularly regarding pathogen safety and the control of deleterious enzyme activity, is costly and frequently results in a decrease of the efficacy as a result of denaturing of the biologically active material. Nevertheless there are several commercial fields that market products based on naturally occurring biologically active products, such as in the pharmaceutical and dietary supplement fields, food field, medical field, over-the-counter medicine field, and the cosmetic field.
One example of an application for such nutraceutical products is in the use of Type II collagen to alleviate the symptoms of arthritis sufferers. This compound is reported to work with the arthritis sufferer's immune system in a positive manner. As disclosed in the patents of Dr. Eugene Moore (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,570,144, 5,529,786, 5,637,321 and 5,645,851), for the Type II collagen product to be effective it must be prepared in a manner that is retains its natural state. Moore's suggested delivery of this material to the consumer, however, involves the retention of significant amounts of water, thus making the product susceptible to pathogen cross-contamination as well as hydrolysis. Once hydrolyzed and soluble Type II collagen loses its potency in reducing the symptoms of arthritis.